Reports have shown that Apple sold one million units in the first month after its launch on 3 April in the US. iPad is now also available in Japan and Australia with Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand expecting to start selling the tablet in mid-July.
1,200 people queued outside the Apple flagship store at Ginza in Tokyo on Friday. The line stretched 800 metres from the door with 19 year-old Takechiyo Yamanaka first in line, after camping out for two days.
According to some people lining up outside Apple stores in London, they will stop buying print magazines if they can get the same information on an iPad. However, one person said the production cost on an advertisement on an iPad (or Android and iPhone) is high due to rich media and graphics. “It’s a question of whether people are prepared to pay 4 pounds for a very beautiful monthly magazine on an iPad, and that’s what the market is yet to discover,” he added.
The Times, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Esquire and Sports Illustrated are some of the magazines that are preparing to launch an iPad magazine. According to the WSJ, the iPad addition will cost $18 a month (which is lower than $29 on a one-year print subscription).
Unilever, Toyota, Fidelity Investments have reportedly already signed with The Times to advertise in the first eight issues of the iPad edition at $200,000 for a single ad spot. Coca-Cola and FedEx have reportedly also agreed to a four-month advertising contract worth $400,000 on WSJ.
Apple's share price rose 2.3 per cent on 30 May and 1.4 per cent by the end of the trading day. Apple has now surpassed Microsoft in brand value.
